1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sunshades and impact protection devices for infants. It particularly relates to automobile seats for infants that include sunshades and handles for hand carrying of its occupant while outside of the automobile.
2. Review of the Prior Art
It is widely recognized that infants can not be safely transported within an automobile while held in an adult's arms because the acceleration and deceleration forces generated during emergency stops and during accidents are too great for even a very strong adult and cause the infant to be crushed between the adult's body and the dashboard of the automobile. Car seats providing comfort and security to infants and small children have consequently been made mandatory by state and federal laws.
Even though such seats do protect the child satisfactorily while the automobile is underway, they may offer little protection against strong sunlight, glare, and the like, thereby causing the small occupant much discomfort. Numerous car seat devices that include sunshades of some type have consequently been designed, but they are generally antiquated and ineffective.
In addition, such a car seat is often carried by its handle from an automobile to a building or to an outdoor place for recreation, such as a sandy beach. In such a situation, blowing sand can easily create not only discomfort but also a hazard for the small occupant thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,339,527 shows a collapsible screen for baby carriages which has sideflaps and is rollably stored.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,412,935 shows a baby carriage screen as foot and head portions which are attached to the handle in the middle of the carriage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,429 discloses a child's automobile seat which is provided with a sunshade or top member and side curtains on either or both sides of the seat. The seat is also adapted to be attached to a stroller or cart for use apart from the car.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,915 describes a sun shield assembly for detachable attachment to an infant's seat, comprising a pair of mounting brackets and a hood, which is mountable in the brackets, having a top wall and opposed side walls. The hood is made of a resilient material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,385 relates to an inflatable cushioning device having a first end adapted for attachment to the infant car seat behind the infant's head and to a seat in front of the infant, including sideflaps extending sufficiently downward from the portion just above the infant's head to protect the infant from strong sunlight and excessive heat. The cushioning device is preferably formed of a flexible plastic material of a color sufficiently dark to absorb an appreciable portion of sunlight incident thereon, thereby protecting the child from exposure to sunlight and resultant discomfort from excessive heat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,779 shows a sun shade and protective cushion device for use with a conventional automobile child seat. The sun shade comprises a flexible sheet-like canopy which is generally horizontal in use and has a pocket formed at a first end for fitting over the top of the back of the infant's car seat and a means at a second end, opposite to the first end, for stretchably anchoring the canopy to a part of the car's interior that is spaced apart from the infant's car seat. A pair of side flaps also may extend along opposite sides of the canopy and be either in a raised position, flat atop the canopy, or in a generally downwardly lowered position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,175 describes a baby carrier that is usable as a chair, a rocker, or a one-handed carrier by means of a pair of pivots which rotatably connect its support handle to the sides of the carrier. The pair of pivots can be locked in various positions. The carrier also comprises a detachable fabric carrying pouch, preferably provided beneath the carrier between the rockers, for storing various items.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,447 describes a shading device comprising "a flexible shading blanket or curtain which is stored, when retracted, compactly rolled on a window shade type spring roller" for protection of thermally sensitive cargo aboard a NASA orbiter spacecraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,030 describes a shade for use with infants and children car seats and the like having a seat and back member that fits into the seat and accommodates strap restraints and a hood that attaches to the seat and back member to project as a canopy from a back portion of the seat and back member. The device has a two-part construction including a flexible seat and back with connection means for the hood and pass-through openings for seat restraints.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,674 relates to a sun shade for an infant which is of soft and flexible construction, self-supporting, and free of rigid structural components comprising a visor portion which is formed integrally with at least top portion and preferably also with upper portions of the side panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,770 discloses a sun shield for a child's car seat which "consists of a single flat piece of pre-cut firm bendable material having a roof segment, a pair of side visor segments, a pair of support flap segments and a back segment, with a cut out gap area between each support flap segment and the back segment." The bendable material is standard gauge corrugated cardboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,945 describes a removable cover for a vehicular safety seat for a child to prevent burning of the child by seat areas exposed to the sun.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,473 discloses a sun screen and windbreaker panel for a chair in which the panel is at the back of the chair and an overhead panel part is used as a sun shade. In its third embodiment, the panel is initially rolled up in the same manner as a window shade and pulled outwardly from a shaft to a predetermined length.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,889 describes a soft sun covering for a wheelchair which is removable and storable in a carrier case.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,380 is directed to a sunshade assembly which comprises a rear portion, a front portion, a canopy of a suitable flexible material, hubs, a rear bow, and a front bow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,308 relates to an apparatus for protecting an infant in a forwardly facing infant's seat in a vehicle from direct exposure to sun rays. It comprises a frame and a foldable canopy carried by the frame to extend protectively above the seat and to be folded as the frame sections are relatively pivoted.
Although these prior art baby carriers provide several helpful features, there are additional problems that remain unsolved. These problems include monitoring of an infant occupant in the rear seat of an automobile by parents without visual strain, rapid and simple fastening of foot and head sunvisors, spacing of these sunvisors from the infant's body, simplified mounting and fastening of sideflaps to the sunvisors in order to protect the infant from wind, blowing sand, and sun, carrying the car seat and infant while it continues to furnish protection from both sunlight and the elements, and reliable operation of its handle at both grip and hub locations.